It makes for an engrossing book. Both are justified The Eighth Lifethe story of a family, a country, a centuryis an imaginative, expansive, and important read. STARRED REVIEW Bethany Latham, Booklist, If its a family saga youre seeking, look no further than this grand tale The author gracefully interweaves the historical backdrop of her novel with the lives of her characters, thus adding depth to her story. It is epic, fast-moving, full of dashed hopes, vanity, mystery, bureaucracy, brutality, intimate moments amidst seismic, impenetrable forces, private motives competing and sometimes cooperating with nationalistic predispositions, art trying to find a footing against mechanistic and formulaic forces. This is an amazing book. Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon, [{"displayPrice":"$19.87","priceAmount":19.87,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"19","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"87","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"UI%2Fu0GRm9UNOtz3d0H5BHFWz8rsRsN3dKh40TIUbFGSy8RSl6D3rlR0RXRasBwNLbltxUJjFZomDINaF8lW9yp1c9%2FKcua4j1MbD1J9Gwkya2dxqNat4b9bylzQNkwyxW%2BdwaVrgEOgfoRdOBE4MXy0mgGARrglMiKEHwtG9ohUWcJZhHwbSWAXQvJgmXQNP","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]. And with the weather as I write this becoming more autumnal it is ideal for curling up with a nice big book to pass away the cooler nights. Nino Haratischvili's 'The Eighth Life' is a multi-generational saga focusing on a Georgian family and written by Niza Jashi for her 12 year-old niece, Brilka, which spans six generations of the Jashi family, the first of whom is Niza's great-great-grandfather, a master chocolatier whose secret recipe for a hot chocolate drink is so . It is perhaps for this reason that reading Nino Haratischwilis The Eighth Life, translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin, feels so familiar, almost like a wish fulfilled The Eighth Life has deservedly been compared to Tolstoys War & Peace. Barbara Halla, Asymoptote, [A]n epica magnificent, sprawling family saga that captures the suffering and pride of the Georgian people throughout the tumult of the twentieth century. By the 70s, Nizas childhood, life has lapsed into a comfortable complacency, a golden age corrupted by alcoholism, theft and absenteeism., In the 90s, things fall apart. Author: Nino Haratischvili Title: The Eighth Life (for Brilka) The House of Tudor family tree is headed by Henry VII (1457-1509). House of Plantagenet. The red century devours a family, and history comes with a pinch of chocolateLike Water for Chocolate, even. Brigitte, The Eighth Life is a sprawling family saga, to be savored for its grandeur, scope and scale Interwoven with love, loss, trumps and tragedy are the uncanny impacts of a family recipe for divine hot chocolate, which just might carry a curse enthralling and satisfying. FIVE STARS Maureen Eppen, Good Reading, This multi-award winning novel is a riveting read You too often want to pause and appreciate delightful twists, intriguing concepts, the catch-your-breath unexpected. The Australian, The Eighth Life is the sort of book that sweeps you along, sustaining a tremendous feeling of urgency, as if the narrator is desperate to get it all out, get it all on paper, before the family curse catches up with her. The Saturday Paper, A harrowing, heartening and utterly engrossing epic novel astonishing A subtle and compelling translation by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin (on the heels of a Georgian version earlier this year) should make this as great a literary phenomenon in English as it has been in German. The Guardian, This is one for long-haul flights or the Christmas lock-in. Aer Lingus. There was a problem loading your book clubs. I felt part of this family as I traveled with them through time and history; as they shared with me all the threads of their woven carpet, generations old I loved this amazing book., Its definitely the best work of fiction I've read in the last year., A sprinkling of Allendesque magic realism is added, along with a handful of spirits and a secret recipe for delicious and addictive hot chocolate that appears to curse those who drink it., If you only read one book this year make sure it is, is an extraordinary, dramatic and compelling read The ambitious, vivid and unflinching translation from the original German by Ruth Martin and Charlotte Collins is in itself a work of art, and deserves to win every translation prize going., [A] generational saga of 20th-century Georgia with the drama and grandeur to be Georgias, Everybody requires a new, vigorous narrative of European ideals, of the European past Nino Haratischwili has created this narrative in her new novel., Nino Haratischwili has written a great book: a book which ranges over a century and half of the globe; a book however, within whichas in the infants experienceeverything is only love and dread. Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2022, Beautifully written. Henry was married to Elizabeth of York (1466 - 1503) in 1486. The only thing I can say good is that over 900 pages and dozens of characters you always know who where and what is going on. A minor note of reservation: there is a nod to magic realism, in terms of the narcotic, malign effect of the chocolate, and in the tendency of some members of the family to see ghosts, but these are a little unconvincing. ${cardName} not available for the seller you chose. It is sure to be an instant classic. It is moving, sincere, powerfully told. Events are woven through the lives of the family, in keeping with a recurring knotted carpet metaphor. : Stasias is only the first in a symphony of grand but all too often doomed romances that swirl from sweet to sour in this epic tale of the red century. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. If you are patient - more than 1000 pages - I truly recommend it. Royal Family. The length is just because there is a lot of story to tell, and it is told so wonderfully that the effort is in putting the novel down, not picking it up. 1. Who Needs a Sweeping Epic About the Red Century? Full of promise; starting advantages and natural resources. It is epic, fast-moving, full of dashed hopes, vanity, mystery, bureaucracy, brutality, intimate moments amidst seismic, impenetrable forces, private motives competing and sometimes cooperating with nationalistic predispositions, art trying to find a footing against mechanistic and formulaic forces. Through the Russian Revolution and that of World War Two, so we have civil wars and the problems that face Georgia. If its not my all-time favourite novel (and it might be) then it must be in the top three or four. Many novels have grand ambitions. married to King Louis XII of France on 9 October 1514 at Abbeville Cathedral, France. Heartily recommended., This is a long, rewarding novelably translated through a collaborative process. Royal Family tree: Queen Elizabeth II is not directly related to Elizabeth I (Image: GETTY) While there is no direct line between the two, the modern royals have a distant connection to the. She has taught translation to undergraduates at Birkbeck and the University of Kent, and leads workshops for postgraduates and early-career translators. What I liked is that the author places the characters in the historic period they are living but never gives so much information to turn it into a history book. You have to go back to Elena Ferranti's Neopolitan quartet of novels for something comparable, or further back, to Vikram Seth's 'A Suitable Boy' - what they did for Italy and India respectively Nino Haratischvili does for Georgia, covering the whole of the 20th century. Please try your request again later. Edmund Moody of Bury St. Edmunds, county Suffolk, England, born probably about 1495, is the earliest person of the name from whom a descent has been proved in this particular family. It is a very long book, but I regret when I finished reading it. When Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell wrote Georgia on My Mind they were of course not referring to the actual country with that name, but it seems as good a title as any for my review. 6. It owes its success to a delicious chocolate recipe, passed down the generations with great solemnity and caution. , Publisher Mary, byname Mary, Queen of Scots, original name Mary Stuart or Mary Stewart, (born December 8, 1542, Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian, Scotlanddied February 8, 1587, Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire, England), queen of Scotland (1542-67) and queen consort of France (1559-60). Thus we are then taken back in time and read of the familys struggles and that of their homeland, a country that after only a few short years of independence find themselves part of the Soviet Union and thus under totalitarian rule, with one of their very own in charge Stalin. Highly recommended. There are many other memorable characters weaving through the story, who get tangled up in this formidable family. Then jump into You Be You, and youll find yourself satisfied and succeeding in ways you never expected. An orphan dreamer who once carved legions of wooden angels returns from the camps in Siberia to end his days chiseling busts of Marx and Engels and Lenin. Both are justified, the story of a family, a country, a centuryis an imaginative, expansive, and important read., If its a family saga youre seeking, look no further than this grand tale The author gracefully interweaves the historical backdrop of her novel with the lives of her characters, thus adding depth to her story. It is long, but every time I would think -- wow this is long, I dove right back in and was impressed by the epic story and the finely crafted characters. I sketched a family tree to keep track of all the characters: pious aunts and mean stepmothers, wives and mistresses, lost lovers, poets and filmmakers and pianists and singers, secret agents and loyal soldiers, bandits, torturers, bastard children and favorite children, love triangles and ghosts. And hot chocolate. Please try again. And just as the tragedy brings real and convincing emotion, so too does the love and the laughter that run through the novel. Although the book is divided into eight parts, the stories of the lives of the characters overlap and interweave, so we never leave any of them behind and, despite its great length, the novel is a pacy and rather dramatic read (although I have to say that I found it a little overly melodramatic at times). Need joy? It is from Henry and Elizabeth that all Tudor lineage can be traced. One of the things I like about the novel is that it doesn't just split the story up into parts, as the structure suggests, but sweeps the whole into one great narrative, so that we follow all the main characters throughout their lives. : It won the Anna Seghers Prize, the Lessing Prize Stipend, and the Bertolt Brecht Prize, and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2020. Flourishing when playing by others rules but falling apart when given the freedom to set its own direction. When Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell wrote Georgia on My Mind they were of course not referring to the actual country with that name, but it seems as good a title as any for my review. At over 900 pages long, it is a book you want to immerse yourself in and never return from. Not only it gives you a unique perspective on the history of 20th century from the one of a lesser known countries - Georgia. The book concludes with a devastatingly brilliant announcement of hope, a new chapter, titled with her nieces name, yet unwritten. Her huge novel shows a double face, its crushing pain and loss nonetheless conveyed with an artful storytellers sheer joy in her craft., No doubt Nino Haratischwili is one of the most important voices in contemporary German literature., is an expansive and hopeful tale centered on family touched by war and revolution., It is an ambitious undertaking, but the author retains a firm grasp on her material and knows exactly how she wishes to present the human cost and consequences to a family facing war and colliding ideologies I finished by applauding the vision, boldness and passionate commitment., Sometimes I wonder how many people harbor a secret desire to write a book about their familys entire history. Under collectivism, the chocolate maker is reduced to being a worker in his former shop; when World War II breaks out, it is turned into a canteen serving meatballs and mashed potatoes. The author's words are liquid so that one flows through this long novel. Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2021. I wished that, as I got deeper into the story, I built up a family tree, adding the most notable subsidiary characters, because as the century unfolds the canvas becomes crowded. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 30, 2020. Alfred the Great (871-899) Scottish Robert the Bruce (1306-1329) Henry VIII (1509-1547) George III (1760-1820) Victoria (1837-1901) Elizabeth II (1952-) Princess Mary Tudor, queen of France and duchess of Suffolk. The Eighth Life (for Brilka) is a phenomenal novel right up there with the best of the best. There is enough reference back to remind the reader of previous episodes although, inevitably in a book of nearly 1000 pages and with such an immense sweep of time, some of the references back feel like the ghosts of an ancient time. Do you believe that this item violates a copyright? As in 900 pages covering generations of a single family, of the remarkable events and amazing women, in particular, who defined this lineage from the Bolshevik occupation of the country to the early twenty-first century. Stasias is only the first in a symphony of grand but all too often doomed romances that swirl from sweet to sour in this epic tale of the red century. Yourself satisfied and succeeding in ways you never expected and the problems that face Georgia that run through lives. By others rules but falling apart when given the freedom to set its own direction World War,... Who get tangled up in this formidable family at over 900 pages long, it is a long rewarding. 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